1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to breastshields, and more particularly, to a flexible insert that can be easily applied to rigid breastshields to enhance breast milk expression.
2. Background and Related Art
As the most scientifically proven beneficial form for feeding infants in the world today, breastfeeding is prevalent and continues to grow in popularity. Scientists continually discover the manifold advantages of breastfeeding. Breast milk is touted as perfectly balanced for babies, providing just the right ratios of necessary nutrients. Additionally, breast milk changes composition throughout each breastfeeding session, throughout the day, and even throughout the year to suit the individual and growing needs of infants (Renfrew, M. The New Bestfeeding: Getting Breastfeeding Right for You, Pg. 5, CelestialArts 2000) Breast milk is the primary protection for infants against infection and disease, and studies even suggest breast milk contributes to higher IQ's and optimal brain development. Breastfeeding is also more practical. On average it can cost $20-$40 a week for formula, which is the only safe alternative to breastfeeding. In contrast, breast milk is free and available without preparation. Thus, women and their babies worldwide are enjoying the benefits of breastfeeding.
A woman who returns to the workplace while breastfeeding, or even a woman who needs to express milk in addition to breastfeeding (perhaps in the instance where she is painfully engorged), might use a breast pump for expression of milk. Breast pumps are popular because they enable women to maintain their milk supply while being away or relieve painfully swollen breasts. Breast pumps generally consist of a vacuum source, a receptacle where the expressed milk is held, and a funnel, essentially a cone ending in a tube, connected to the receptacle and the vacuum, which receives the breast and nipple. Upon activation of the vacuum, the negative pressure and funnel work together to stimulate the breast. Milk then begins to “let-down,” or become expressed, and runs into the nipple tunnel and down the receptacle where it can be stored for later use.
Unfortunately, using breast pumps can be unfavorable. Women most often complain about the breast pump's funnel (hereinafter referred to as the “breastshield”) and its rigidity, shape and generalized form, which are usually not at all similar to a baby's mouth. Hence, many women find using breast pumps uncomfortable and more difficult.
One of the more painful conditions associated with breastfeeding and breast pumping occurs when a woman's nipples become cracked and sore. Sore and cracked nipples occur when not enough of the breast tissue surrounding the nipple is taken into the baby's mouth when nursing. Babies need to nurse from the breasts, and not just the nipples. When a baby compresses his or her gum line in the appropriate area surrounding the woman's breast and nipple, milk expression is optimal and painless.
The same soreness and cracking can also result from nipple damage caused by breast pumps. Pain occurs because during breast pump use, though the breast is initially pulled forward into the breastshield at the onset of negative pressure, after that, only the nipple moves back and forth relative to the breastshield's tubular extension. This motion, which makes primarily only the nipple to move back and forth within the rigid shield, may create friction between the nipple and area between the cone and tubular extension of the breastshield. Such friction results in nipple cracking and soreness. Also, the rigidity and generalized form of the shield is so dissimilar to a baby's mouth that letdown is much more difficult. Breast pumps are also less optimal for milk expression because the breastshields available today do not closely mimic the compression of the baby's gum line over the milk sinuses and the tongue's stripping action.
Numerous additional shortcomings with current breastshields are also present. Specifically, there is a need for a flexible breastshield that can compress the breast tissue and nipple similarly to a baby's gum line, and also has the ability to pull the breast back and forth relative to the rigid shield, which creates optimal massage and fosters successful, painless milk expression. There is also a need in the industry for a flexible shield that can be easily applied over any universal rigid shield. Moreover, there is a need for a breastshield that is not only more easily applied onto a more rigid shield, but also can, upon onset of the vacuum, easily pull the breast into the shield without having to take great care in centering the nipple within the shield. Moreover, there is a need for a breastshield, which by nature of its flexible material, can be used by a variety of women with different breast and nipple sizes, and especially by those women who do not fit the generalized rigid shield manufactured to fit average size nipples and breasts. Finally, there is a need for a breastshield that allows much of the breast to remain exposed, enabling the woman to manually massage her breast, which is often necessary to relieve painful engorgement or to work out a plugged duct.